Stubs - Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver’s Travels (1939) Voices by Sam Parker, Pinto Colvig, Jack Mercer, Tedd Pierce, Jessica Dragonette, Livonia Warren, Lanny Ross, Cal Howard. Directed by Dave Fleischer. Screenplay by Dan Gordon, Cal Howard, Ted Pierce, I. Sparber, Edmond Seward. Based on the book Travels Into Several Remote Nations of the World by Lemuel Gulliver by Jonathan Swift (London, 1726). Produced by Max Fleischer. Run Time: 76 minutes. USA Color Animated, Fantasy

While Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first animated feature, animation rival Fleischer Studios’ Gulliver’s Travels was the second. The brothers Fleischer left Bray Studios to found their own company Out of the Inkwell, Inc., in 1921, changing its name in 1929. In the beginning, the studio produced novelty films called Out of the Inkwell, which used the Rotoscope, invented by Fleischer. Rotoscoping is an animation technique used to trace over live-action motion picture footage, frame-by-frame. It produces a realistic animation. Out of the Inkwell also used live-action footage mixed with the animation in such shorts as Modeling (1921).

Fleischer found great success in the 1930s, with series like Screen Songs (follow the bouncing ball), the Betty Boop cartoons, and, of course, Popeye the Sailor Man. Their ties to Paramount were almost a hindrance, as that studio prevented them from acquiring the three-color Technicolor Process, leaving it available for a four-year exclusivity with Walt Disney, who created a new market for color cartoons. Paramount also demanded more from Fleischer, which by 1936 had 4 series and 52 releases annually. In order to keep up with demand, Fleischer had to bring on more and more animators. The crowded conditions, production speedups, drawing quotas, and internal management problems resulted in a Labor Strike beginning in May 1937, which lasted for five months. This strike was a test case, the first launched in the motion picture industry, and produced a nationwide boycott of Fleischer cartoons for the duration.

Max Fleischer had been thinking about an animated feature film since 1934, but Paramount vetoed his proposals until after Snow White’s success and then they demanded the film to be ready by Christmas 1939, about 18 months later. Disney had spent 18 months producing Snow White, but had also spent the same amount of time in pre-production.

Paramount’s demand also came as Fleischer was moving operations from New York to Miami, Florida. The move was motivated by lower corporate taxes and the hope that the animation studio could escape the remaining hostility from the strike.

The original screenplay had Popeye the Sailor Man in the role of Gulliver, but that was vetoed. The screenplay was re-written by the team of Cal Howard, Ted Pierce, and Edmond Seward. In order to turn the production around so quickly, Fleisher had to bring on upwards of 800 employees, even going so far as setting up animation training classes at Miami art schools as a conduit for more animators.

The majority of the characters were animated through conventional animation techniques, however, rotoscoping was used to animate Gulliver, Glory, and David. Sam Parker, the voice of Gulliver, also modeled for the live-action reference. There is no reference for who played the live-action Glory and David.

Despite Paramount’s considering canceling the project, Fleischer delivered the film and met the studio’s deadline. The film premiered in New York on December 20, 1939, and went into general release two days later.

The film opens on a captain’s log. It is November 5, 1699, and there is a storm raging at sea. Try as hard as he can, Lemuel Gulliver (Sam Parker) is washed overboard, as his ship falters. Making his way through the turgid sea, he ends up on an island beach.

Gabby (Pinto Colvig), the town crier, is making his rounds and ends up in Gulliver's hand.

Meanwhile, Gabby (Pinto Colvig), the town crier, is making his rounds, assuring the populace that everything is okay. In the first of several songs in the film, Gabby is singing “All’s Well” and is so concentrated on his song that he doesn’t realize, until it’s too late, that he has wandered onto Gulliver’s hand, who is a giant by comparison.

 King Little (Jack Mercer) with King Bombo (Tedd Pierce).

Running back to warn the king of the "giant on the beach,” he is stopped by guards because King Little (Jack Mercer) is in the process of signing a wedding contract with King Bombo (Tedd Pierce) of Blefescu. The contract would join Little’s daughter Princess Glory (Livonia Warren) and Bombo’s son Prince David (Cal Howard), as well as bring peace to the two rival kingdoms.

Things seem to be going well until the issue of the song to be sung at the wedding. Trouble arises when King Little insists that his favorite song, "Faithful," be sung at the ceremony, while Bombo is equally insistent that his favorite number, "Forever," be the only song sung at the wedding. Their dispute ends when Bombo declares war and storms out.

The Lilliputians transport Gulliver to their town on a large wagon they have constructed.

Finally gaining access to the King, Gabby tells him of the giant and then leads a mob to the beach to capture him. The people of Lilliput, Lilliputians, as they’re better known, work through the night to tie Gulliver up and transport him to their town on a large wagon they construct the next morning.

When Gulliver (Sam Parker) awakens, he easily escapes.

However, when Gulliver awakens, the Lilliputian restraints are no match for his size and he quickly frees himself.

Meanwhile, Bombo has made good on his threat, but when the Blefuscuian armada of invading ships sees the giant, they turn back. Gulliver is merely amused and laughs.

Gulliver towers over Lilliput.

Thinking Gulliver would be a good giant to have on their side, the Lilliputians pamper him, shaving the giant and fashioning new clothes for him as well. A party is planned to celebrate him, so a giant table is also constructed for him to sit at.

Meanwhile, three of Bombo’s spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch (Jack Mercer), are still in Lilliput with orders to kill Gulliver. This seems hopeless until they spy Gulliver’s flintlock pistol, or Thunder maker, which had been taken from him early on. They steal the pistol to use to kill him.

After all the Lilliputians are asleep, Gulliver sees that Prince David has snuck back into Lilliput to see Glory and from them, he learns that the war is over a song. He proposes that they two sing their songs together, resulting in “Faithful/Forever”.

When the spies relay through carrier pigeon that they can kill Gulliver, Bombo sends back a message that he will attack at dawn. Two trips seem to be more than the carrier pigeon is capable of and when he stops to rest, Gabby manages to intercept the message and warns the Lilliputians. Waiting for their orders, the pigeon makes it to their hideout without the message. However, they manage to capture Gabby and learn that the invasion is on.

The next morning, as Bombo’s ships arrive, the Lilliputians, led by King Little, march out to meet them. Gulliver goes to see if he can mitigate the situation. Meanwhile, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch maneuver the pistol in place, high on a cliff hoping to shoot Gulliver.

Gulliver drags the Blefuscuian fleet ashore.

At first, Gulliver is attacked by the Blefuscuian fleet, but their weapons are of no use and he manages to pull up all the ships’ anchors and drag the fleet to shore.

Prince David sees what Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch are ridden out and thwarts them, however, as they fire. But the prince takes a tumble over the cliff with the pistol. He lands on the beach below and lies motionless on the ground, apparently dead.

Gulliver reunites David (Lanny Ross) and Glory (Jessica Dragonette).

Gulliver scoops up the lifeless body in his hand and scolds both Lilliput and Blefuscu for fighting. The thought of losing David brings King Bombo to his senses and the two agree to a truce. Only then does Gulliver reveal that David is unharmed, whereupon David (Lanny Ross) and Glory (Jessica Dragonette) sing their combined song for everyone.

The film ends with Gulliver sailing off into the sunset on a boat built by the Lilliput and Blefuscu, while everyone is sad to see him leave.

Reviewers were not impressed. Frank S. Nugent, writing in the New York Times, stated: “Unlike Disney's 'Snow White,' which was preeminently a fairy tale for adults, Max Fleischer's feature-length cartoon of 'Gulliver's Travels' is a fairy tale for children and for children almost exclusively. As such we have no hesitation in recommending Paramount's new film as a pleasant and diverting animated picture book, drawn in the brightest Technicolor, happily free from ogres, hobgoblins, and other nightmare-breeders, and so broad in its humor that the littlest 4-year-old can scarcely miss its jokes. But, by any other standards than those of the juvenile audience, the film is so far beneath the level of Mr. Disney's famous fantasy that, out of charity, we wish we did not have to make the comparisons demanded by professional responsibility.”

He adds, “But it is far more than novelty that 'Gulliver' lacks: it is the wit, the freshness, the gayety [sic] and sparkle, the subtlety, the characterization and, for that matter, the good drawing that are the trademarks of the Disney factory. Pointedly enough, the best parts of the Fleischer show are those which are most reminiscent of Disney: the comet-like course of the lamp-bearing town crier of Lilliput when the first sight of Gulliver sends him rocketing through the city to spread the alarm, the Lilliputian methods of repairing the human giant's wardrobe, the music-box effect of the harmonic snores of King Little and other members of his court. And pointedly, too, the worst parts of it were Disney stumbling blocks also: inability to make a little Prince and Princess anything but expressionless dolls, to crease a natural human face into a smile or frown without the lines and shadows performing a square dance.”

Despite less than glowing reviews, the film was popular with audiences, making a profit for Paramount. Their investment of $700,000 returned $3.27 million at the box office. It was enough for Paramount to ask for a follow-up feature for Christmas 1941, Mr. Bug Goes to Town. Despite that, Paramount held Fleischer Studios to a $350,000 penalty for going over budget. This was the beginning of the financial difficulties Fleischer Studios encountered as it entered the 1940s.

The follow-up feature had the misfortune of being previewed on December 5, 1941, two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Christmas release was canceled. Three weeks later, Paramount president Barney Balaban activated Max Fleischer's resignation. (Letters of resignation from both Max and Dave had been required by Paramount, allowing the studio to use them at their discretion. Dave had resigned after Mr. Bug was completed.) Having taken over Fleischer, Paramount reorganized it as Famous Studios. Gulliver’s Travels, along with most of the Fleischer cartoons would end up in the public domain when the subsequent owner, National Telefilm Associates, failed to renew the copyrights in the mid-60s.

I came to this film after having watched Fleischer Studio’s excellent run at the Superman cartoons, also made for Paramount through a license with what is now DC Comics. And, by comparison, it is a disappointment. Everything that Nugent mentioned in his review is still true.

Voice acting is always hard to peg. Sam Parker, who plays Gulliver, was a radio announcer who won the part in a radio contest. His voice would also appear in two Superman shorts, Japoteurs (1942) and Secret Agent (1943). He is passable but unremarkable as the lead.

Perhaps the best known voice actor was Jack Mercer, who voiced King Little, Twinkletoes, Sneak, Snoop, Snitch. You might remember him from a different Fleischer series, Popeye. He began his career as an "inbetweener", an apprentice animator at Fleischer Studios. Mercer liked to imitate voices and when When William Costello, the original cartoon voice of Popeye (1933–1935), became difficult to work with and was dismissed, Mercer took over the role. He would continue to do Popeye into the 1970s.

Mercer was regularly cast with Pinto Colvig, who voiced Gabby, in other Fleischer shorts, including the Gabby series of films that followed this film. Colvig was the original performer of the Disney characters Pluto and Goofy, as well as Bozo the Clown. In addition to this film, he also worked on Snow White and Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free.

The animation is something else altogether and I mean that literally. There is not only a mixture of processes, rotoscoping and hand animation, but also one of styles. There is the obviously rotoscoped Gulliver, who looks almost too human, bordering on the 30s version of the uncanny valley. Glory and David are also rotoscoped, but they’re given a softer touch, almost like Disney’s Snow White. They seem to have gotten a softer touch than Gulliver. And then there are the residents of Lilliput and Blefuscu, who come off as cartoony by comparison.

The mixture, at times, gets in the way of the story and there’s not much story to tell. So much time is spent on the grooming and dressing of Gulliver that it feels like filler. There is more of the story that could have been told and wasn’t; some for good reasons. The original book starts the same, but tells a very different story. Oh, there is the conflict between Lilliput and Blefuscu, but it is not over something as trivial as a song. While Gulliver helps Lilliput defeat Blefuscu, he is not at the end a favorite son.

In Jonathan Swift’s story, Gulliver is considered a traitor when he won’t help put Blefuscu under Lilliput rule. He is charged with treason and other crimes, including urinating on the capital when he is trying to put out a fire. (This could not have been depicted given the production codes.) He was to be blinded as punishment, but manages to escape to Blefuscu and eventually is picked up by a passing ship. He then goes on to other adventures.

In the end, the film is a bit of a disappointment, given how good we know the Fleischers can be. However, the film should not be dismissed out of hand. Given the short production window and other conditions, the fact that the Fleischer Studio could turn around a film of this type in only 18 months is to be applauded.

If this is your first exposure to Fleischer Studios animation, you will only think of them as a Disney also-ran, when in fact, they were a primary rival and could have been more dominant if they were working with another studio at the time. Instead, watch their Popeye shorts or, even better, their turn at Superman if you want to see what Fleischer was capable of doing. Then come back to this to consider what might have been.